Want your charities of choice to get the most out of your money? And want to be rewarded for your giving beyond the feel-good effects? Here are eight tips for maximizing the impact of your donations:

1. About 6,000 companies match donations that employees make to selected charities. Check with your human resources department to see if your company has a matching gift program.

2. Give substantial donations to a small number of charities rather than giving tiny donations to numerous charities. Concentrating your money will maximize your dollars and give a charity a chance to make substantive changes.

3. Create a giving circle, which consists of a group of friends or colleagues. The group pools its money and chooses one or two charities to support.

4. Deduct your donations from your taxes if you don't take the standard deduction. Only about 35 percent of Americans itemize while taxpayers who take the standard deduction cannot deduct donations.

5. If you are an itemizer, you also can deduct expenses associated with volunteering like mileage and uniform costs.

7. For donations between $10,000 and $50,000, create a charitable gift annuity. The annuity will pay the donor a fixed amount each year, while the charity keeps the bulk of the money. The donation is tax deductible.

8. For donations over $100,000, create a charitable remainder trust, which also pays a fixed amount to the donor and is tax deductible.